The present invention relates to a snare drum, and more particularly, to a snare drum of a type having a plurality of snare wires held by a frame.
A snare drum having a plurality of snare wires on a lower head face is known in the prior art (see U.S. Pat. No. 1,832,227).
FIG. 19 is a perspective view showing a snare wire unit 211 of a first prior art example. FIG. 20 is a view of a snare drum 200 to which the snare wire unit 211 is attached, as seen from the lower side of the drum 200. As shown in FIG. 19, the snare wire unit 211 has a plurality of snare wires 201, and a right metal holder 202 and a left metal holder 203 for holding opposite ends of the snare wires 201. In the prior art snare drum 200, the metal holders 202 and 203 are respectively inserted into and fastened to a right connector 205 and a left connector 206, which are located on a lower hoop 204 of the drum 200. The right connector 205 has an opening in its right face so that the snare wire unit 211 can be inserted into and removed out through the opening. A threaded hole (not shown) is formed in the left face of the left metal holder 203. A bolt 207 provided in the left connector 206 is engaged with the threaded hole to fasten the left metal holder 203 and the left connector 206 together to each other. Further, a switch 210 is connected to the left connector 206 for bringing the snare wires 201 close to the lower head 209.
To remove the snare wire unit 211 from the snare drum 200, the bolt 207 is first loosened and the left metal holder 203 is pulled in the rightward direction out of the left connector 206. The right metal holder 202 is then pulled in the rightward direction out of the right connector 205. To attach the snare wire unit 211 to the snare drum 200, the left metal holder 203 is first inserted through the right connector 205 from the right side to the left side. Then, the left metal holder 203 is inserted into the left connector 206 from the right side to the left side. The bolt 207 is then tightened to fasten the left metal holder 203 to the left connector 206. This also fastens the right metal holder 202 to the right connector 205 The snare wire unit 211 is attached to the snare drum 200 in this manner.
There is a second prior art example, in which snare wires are held by a frame and the frame is supported by a string on the drum (see U.S. Pat. No. 3,113,481). To remove a snare wire unit, which includes a plurality of snare wires and the frame, from the snare drum, the string is first loosened. Then, the unit is detached from the drum.
Detachment and attachment of the snare wire unit becomes necessary when replacing, for example, a lower head or individual snare wires. In the first and second prior art examples, however, a series of tasks as described above must be performed to detach and attach the snare wire unit. These tasks are complicated and troublesome.
Further, in the first prior art example, once the snare wire unit 211 is removed, the tension of the snare wires 201 drops to zero. This means that the adjusted tension before detachment of the snare wire unit 211 cannot be maintained. Thus, tension adjustment must be performed again after the attachment. It is inefficient and troublesome to perform tension adjustment every time the snare wire unit is detached and attached. Moreover, since the fastening with the bolt 207 of the left connector 206 applies tension to the snare wires 201 in addition to fixing the left metal holder 203 to the left connector 206, the tension of the snare wires 201 is directly applied to the switch 210 and the body of the drum 200. This results in various problems, such as much strength being required to operate the switch 210 and deformation of the drum body occurring.
Further, the opposite ends of the plurality of snare wires 201 are all fixed to the metal holders 202 and 203 so that the snare wires 201 do not become scattered when the snare wire unit 211 is detached from the drum. Therefore, the snare wires cannot be replaced individually. The number of the snare wires is usually about ten to fourteen. However, when there is no need to use, for example, four to eight snare wires, the unnecessary snare wires must be cut off. However, once the wires are cut off, it is impossible to restore the cut off wires when the original number of snare wires becomes necessary.
The second prior art example differs from the first prior art example in that the snare wires are held by the frame and the tension of the snare wires is thus maintained even after detachment of the snare wire unit. However, the string fastens the frame to the drum. Thus, it is difficult to adjust the position of the string accurately. Consequently, there is a problem in that a slight difference in the position of the snare wire unit before and after the detachment occurs. Further, especially when the snare drum is used as a marching snare drum, there is a problem in that the string is often broken due to heavy vertical and horizontal swaying motions during usage of the drum.
It is an object of the present invention to provide a snare drum which eliminates the need for tension adjustment when reattaching snare wires which have been detached and which simplifies the attachment and detachment of snare wires to a drum. A further object of the present invention is to provide a snare drum that enables snare wires to be replaced individually.